


Feeding Stray Cats

by EvilRobotCat



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:27:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21915208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvilRobotCat/pseuds/EvilRobotCat
Summary: The members of Avalanche have gathered to celebrate their friendship, and more importantly, to distract Cloud from a difficult anniversary.  But he's thinking about something else entirely.  What secret does he keep outside the city?
Relationships: Sephiroth/Cloud Strife
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12
Collections: FF7 Secret Santa 2019





	Feeding Stray Cats

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AntiGravitas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AntiGravitas/gifts).



There was a chill in the air over Edge. There often was. Only a few hours' flight from the crater, the air still smoky with ghosts of Midgar's pollution, and with no more mako vents to warm the earth from below, it was hardly a wonder this region only warmed up in summer.

Accustomed to the cold, to hardship in general, people rarely donned more than light jackets and knit caps to keep themselves comfortable. Natural fibers and earthy colors were "in". They had been "in" for several years now. Nobody made synthetic fabrics anymore, and few people were optimistic enough to create brightly colored dyes. Too costly when electricity still hadn't returned to every corner of the globe.

They had almost lost everything again and again. After the day of the miracle in the church people had begun to believe the planet could heal. Seeing gods of death rise above Midgar to duel a year later had quieted their expressions of hope. Live frugally, expect the worst, that was how people spoke these days.

And yet people still took time out of their daily lives to celebrate. Holidays, birthdays, the odd reunion with family thought lost... Anything was reason enough to throw a party, as long as there was alcohol, an abundance of food, and willingness to abandon fear for just a few hours. Such a party took shape tonight in the new 7th Heaven. Many celebrations did while the bar was open, but the doors were closed, all regular patrons reminded to eat elsewhere.

Inside loud voices roared with laughter, sharing stories that would frighten away any lingering customers reluctant to leave. Train crashes, collapsing bridges, dragons three stories tall - the people celebrating had lived through it all and worse. There was no doubting their stories. A pile of weapons rested behind the bar, deposited by the group when they entered. Several in the party wore vicious-looking artificial limbs that doubled as guns and razor blades. Others were, or seemed to be battle-scarred monsters capable of speech. One of these monsters shook an angry paw, or in its case, a large gloved fist, at a foul-mouthed man with yellow hair.

"I _toldja_ not to bring me on that train! I'm not that kinda engineer! I couldn't drive that thing if ya gave me a thousand years! But _you_ got not excuse! You're the drivin' kinda engineer!"

"Rockets and old-ass trains are different," Cid shrugged as he lit his second cigarette of the evening. "If we'd been on a plane, things would've gone fine. Y'all should've taken better care of my Bronco. We coulda flown everywhere from the get go."

"I'm just glad we lived," Yuffie shuddered in her seat and took another sip of her beer.

Yuffie had only been drinking for a year, not long enough to build up a tolerance. She wasn't so new to it that she couldn't tell Tifa was watering down her drinks, however. As if Yuffie needed to be mothered! When no one was looking, she swapped her mug with Vincent's, sitting untouched before him. Vincent ignored the theft. Rather than participate in the party, he looked like he wanted the ground to crack open and transport him to the afterlife. He always looked like that.

"Are any of us truly alive?" Vincent mused darkly. "Life is nothing more than the moments between when death readies his scythe to swing again."

The room seemed to cool several degrees. Taking the hint, Tifa abandoned her seat and retrieved a bottle of wine from the top shelf. In the old days it was a simple table wine, nothing out of the ordinary. In the world Post-Meteor, it was a fine vintage. She poured a tall glass and set it before Vincent. He couldn't bring everyone down with his dark contemplation if his mouth was full. He was also a sleepy drunk.

"Yeah well, like I was sayin', air travel's the way of the goddamn future," Cid said around his cigarette. "If we could crack open one of those ancient airships and figure out a way to rebuild 'em, but really small..."

The topic of conversation shifted easily and frequently. They were miners, mercenaries, princesses, and talking robots. The adventures these friends had shared was really all they had in common. It was enough. More than enough. Friends, families, society itself had precious few strands of the old fabric remaining. New bonds had to be formed and tested quickly. Many failed. Trust was rare and priceless. Everyone sitting here tonight had saved each other's lives countless times. They would again. It was only a matter of time. But not tonight.

"I don't wanna be that guy, but it's gettin' kinda late and Marlene's got school," Barret said after several hours of drinks, food, and memories.

"This place is wild every night, she's sleepin' like a baby," Cait Sith assured him. The talking cat held an empty mug. It couldn't eat or drink, but it loved to be part of every scene it encountered.

"What? How do you know that? I don't want you hangin' around this place, you damn spy!"

Cait Sith kicked its feet up on the table. "Too bad, 'cause me and Miss Tifa are teammates at Bridge every week."

"The fuck you are! Tell that old man to come down here himself if he wants to snoop on us!"

"Barret, that's not kind. You're a month older than I am."

Everyone ignored the bickering pair. Even this tightly-knit group had tension and wounds that would never fully heal. If all that came up tonight were privacy and the proper bedtime for children, the party could be considered a success. Their lives were hard. Rebuilding the planet was backbreaking work, and rarely rewarding. The group couldn't often meet like this, all together at once. It was a special night, though. An anniversary. One nobody would mention out loud, though everybody knew. Everyone had gathered tonight not for the hell of it, but to keep an eye on Cloud.

All night he had been a sullen and unwilling participant in the party. Rather like Vincent's gloom, Cloud's sour mood was just accepted as part of his personality. Tonight he was in a mild spirit. His hair didn't bristle with rage when Yuffie begged Tifa to retell the story of the Don's New Bride. He cracked a smile when Cid described the the sexy pin-up being painted on the side of his airship - and the horror expressed by Cait Sith's somber operator, wherever he was. By morning Reeve would surely be in Rocket Town with a bucket of turpentine and a power washer. His organization made frequent use of that very airship.

But whenever the attention of the party wasn't on him, Cloud looked out the window and sighed. His mind was somewhere else, somewhere far away.

When midnight rolled around and the party still hadn't quieted, Cloud gathered up his grocery crate and headed toward the door without a word. His escape would not be so easy.

"Um, Cloud? Where you going with that?" Cait Sith asked, looking up from an elaborate spread of fortune-telling cards. Its voice was playful, but the tension of its controller could be felt through the distance. Everyone shared the same cautious curiosity.

Facing the door, Cloud bristled in silent frustration.

"It's kinda late," Barret offered kindly. "Market ain't open anymore."

"I know..."

"So? Where you goin'?"

"Just... bringing a plate to a friend." It wasn't a lie. He'd put a dish of party food into the crate. The uncomfortable silence told Cloud his story wouldn't pass without more information. Information he wasn't ready to give. They wouldn't believe him if he just said he was okay. He hunched and gave the knob a twist. "I'll be back in a bit."

It wasn't an explanation, but it bought him just enough time to get outside. Nobody followed him. Another good sign. They might not believe him, but they'd let him go. Heavens knew he'd been doing it long enough now. Every night for the past year. To the day exactly. Cloud fastened the crate to Fenrir and hopped onto the seat. In just a few minutes he was halfway out of Edge and on his way to the border of Midgar.

* * *

The building was small and rickety. It belonged in the slums, not on the border of wilderness at the base of the mountains. Who knew what kept it standing, but the dim light of a kerosene lamp shone through the window. The door cracked open at the sound of Fenrir's engine. It didn't open further until Cloud climbed down from the bike and removed his crate.

Cloud's shoulders tensed in anticipation of what would come next.

"Cloud."

That voice. He'd heard it in his nightmares for years. Lived in terror of the day he'd meet its owner again. Hardened himself in preparation for the final battle. Final. What a joke. It was never over. Except...

"You didn't have to go to the trouble."

There had been no battle the last time. Only her soft smile in a vision, telling him to meet her. He'd followed without question, only to find... _him_.

Him, without weapon or clothing, stripped of his godlike powers, not even knowing how he'd been restored to life.

Sephiroth.

Cloud should have ended it right then and there. Sephiroth invited it. End this cycle, he'd said without pride or agenda. Surely this had to be his last time walking the planet.

_Except..._

"Was in the area." Cloud smiled at the man towering over him.

Except this was what _she_ had wanted. She'd wanted Cloud to find Sephiroth in the forest. Wanted him to... what? There were no more messages from beyond, no hints at why he'd been lured here, why Sephiroth was alive. All Cloud had to go on was his own intuition.

Cloud had once asked for her forgiveness. Maybe this was Sephiroth's chance to ask for his. That's what Cloud had figured, anyway. They'd lived in this secret limbo ever since.

"We're havin' a... thing over at the bar tonight," Cloud said. He offered out the plate to Sephiroth. "Figured you'd like it. Everybody brought somethin'."

Sephiroth took the offering with a subdued grace he'd never shown in his former lives.

"I'd like to give them my thanks," he said, "but I don't think it would be well received."

Cloud shrugged and looked away. "Probably not. Do you remember what happened this night?"

Sephiroth lowered his head in acknowledgment.

"Kind of a stupid thing to celebrate. It's not even really... They're worried, I guess." Cloud's bravado was no more convincing before Sephiroth than it was in the bar. He tensed and added reluctantly, "About me."

"They don't know you've been coming here," Sephiroth concluded. "Or about me."

"Sorry."

“The fault is mine.”

They stood together in silence, watched the moon drift across the sky. This far away from the light of the city, stars shone in the hazy purple sky. Feral guard hounds howled miles away, their lonely voices carried on wind that smelled of sand and trees, not gasoline and smoke. People called this place a wasteland, but it was beautiful to Cloud.

Blind to the wonders Cloud saw, Sephiroth sat on the bench outside his shaky house and sighed.

"You should have killed me when you found me."

"Don't think that's why she brought you back."

"What am I supposed to do with this life? I never knew anything but being a monster under Shinra's command. If I tried to live among the people now..."

"Everybody had to start over. You could, too."

"Impossible. The world won't forgive me for the things I've done."

"Neither could I at first," Cloud admitted. “But she's not like that. She wouldn't want me to be either.”

Oh the fantasies of revenge he'd harbored those first few weeks, even as he helped Sephiroth find shelter and clothing, brought him tools to survive and news of the world outside. Something had stayed his hand every time until the urge faded entirely. He was sure that was Aerith's will.

"I can't forgive _myself,"_ Sephiroth admitted.

They stared at each other. The look in Sephiroth's eyes didn't belong there. He shouldn't be searching for answers, for hope in Cloud, and yet he was, desperately. Cloud rubbed his hands on the sides of his pants, realizing he'd been quiet too long.

What was he doing here? What were either of them?

Aerith had helped Cloud on his path toward redemption. When he stopped thinking and only listened to his heart, Cloud believed deeply that it was his turn to help Sephiroth along that same path.

Cloud offered Sephiroth a small smile.

"I'll keep coming back until you can," he said.

Sephiroth frowned in return. It was a feeling Cloud had known all to well once. Seeing it reflected back at him like this was a sudden reminder of how far he'd come from the night Sephiroth had...

"I gotta get back," Cloud said before his emotions could make him say something really dumb. "They'll come lookin' for me."

"Thank you for-" Sephiroth hesitated, then held out the plate. "-for your kindness."

Cloud shrugged, his cheeks suddenly warm in the frosty air.

"No problem," he mumbled. "Lemme know what you like. I could get the recipe or somethin'.”

“I don't know how to cook.”

“...me either.”

Well. At least there was something the two of them could learn together when Sephiroth was ready to begin his new life.

Maybe tomorrow.

**Author's Note:**

> I went snooping through AntiGravitas' bookmarks and saw some sefikura. It inspired me to work Sephiroth into the story. That made the story take a pretty distinct turn, and then it just ran away with me. I know there are already lots of Sephiroth-comes-back fics out there, but I hope mine was enjoyable. ^^ (Another request was Vincent dealing with his demons. I included a touch of that, although for comedic effect. I can't resist Vincent!)


End file.
